Marion Vignal on curating sensation-oriented experiences in twentieth century French interiors at Maison Bernard

This summer time, the bubble structure of the Nineteen Seventies Maison Bernard, designed by Antti Lovag on the French Riviera, was illuminated by sound, dance, ceramics, sculpture and design items. From bedspreads to benches, every had been fastidiously crafted and curated in response to the natural, ecological and extrovert spirit of the home. In a world stuffed with distractions, the exhibition was specifically designed to attach guests to a second in time; intimate viewings had been accompanied by story-telling guides framing architectural historical past alongside up to date points, with no pictures allowed for a centered and meditative journey..

This sensation-oriented ambiance was set by Genius Loci, a French non-profit initiative that curates multi-disciplinary exhibitions in masterpieces of recent structure in search of to find the ‘spirit’ of a spot and forge hyperlinks between heritage and right this moment. Since 2021, founder Marion Vignal, an artwork historian, writer and curator based mostly in Paris, has manifested the idea in and across the metropolis at Gio Ponti’s Villa L’Ange Volant; an Auguste Perret-designed residence; Atelier Ozenfant by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret; and a Ricardo Bofill residence in Noisy-le-Grand, with the assumption that immersive installations will be responsive, grounding and produce new that means to house

Marion Vignal on organising the French non-profit Genius Loci

Wallpaper*: How and why did Genius Loci start?

Marion Vignal : Impressed by the Bauhaus motion, I’ve at all times thought-about every little thing to be ‘artwork’, from a tiny object to a chunk of structure, I by no means apply a hierarchy to typology or medium. I’ve by no means formally studied structure, so my method to it has at all times been emotional and narrative-led, and through a go to to a Nineteen Thirties home close to Milan, I started to consider my position as a curator and the way artwork may assist guests to know a spot from the within. The idea of Genius Loci is to raise the spirit of place via an ephemeral expertise of sound, scent and the weather, to inform a narrative and activate the previous and future like a chunk of literature or theatre. The structure is the stage and the characters are the artworks; they perform with goal collectively, bringing alternatives to artists and conserving structure alive and visual.

W*: The exhibition at Maison Bernard was a poignant second of reflection on the previous 50 years of progress in environmental consciousness and building innovation, which had been highlighted by a few of the works. What attracts you to the interiors of the twentieth century?

MV: I’ve at all times been interested in buildings of the twentieth century, though I’m enthusiastic about different intervals of structure too. I may think about Genius Loci going down in an 18th century constructing, however by no means a twenty first century constructing as a result of the house wants time to develop a soul and the generational layers of life. What first appealed to me about functionalist interiors is that there’s house to welcome in creativeness. The primary version happened at Gio Ponti’s Villa L’Ange Volant, which represented the evolution of his work from neoclassical to trendy. Whereas there’s a portray on the ceiling in the lounge, in any other case there are these nice volumes the place we may place sculptures and objects to disclose the curves, gentle, perspective of the house, to make the structure seen.

W*: Maison Bernard is filled with shapes, niches and ranges, cabinets, planters and hammocks. There’s so many layers for the attention to compress, it was truly fairly a reduction not to have the ability to take images.

MV: Antti Lovag was very selfish, I’m unsure he needed some other artists in the home. He needed to plan every little thing, together with the place objects might be positioned. It’s actually a complete art work, but on the similar time the inside provides so many alternatives for show. Even, as an illustration, on the constructing itself, the place a rooftop efficiency occurred with dancers intuitively discovering their approach up small units of stairs and vanishing right into a sunken rooftop solarium that beforehand I had no concept existed. The home was impressed by the shapes of the human physique, so it was important to current the inventive medium of the physique.

The primary half-hour of the efficiency had been gradual and silent, in opposition to the sounds of the ocean, the birds and nature. Some folks discovered it an excessive amount of, however I believe it was radical, to actually problem folks to give attention to a creative proposal, the structure and the narrative. The proprietor informed us from the start she didn’t need any images, and we agreed that this could defend and protect the expertise for the guests. It’s an brisk house, very emotional and delicate. It’s an structure that sharpens your consciousness and makes you are feeling extra alive.

W*: How do you personally dwell with artwork, design and house?